Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. All is the property of DC Comics. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Artificial Scion

Chapter Eight: Reasons Given

Tim was amazed to find his backdoor hack still intact and waiting for him when he jacked back into the Space Lab mainframe once he was in the privacy of his room. His roommate seemed to have found himself a girlfriend. Not that Tim was complaining since it got the other man out of the room and afforded him all the privacy he needed, but Tim did hope his roommate was carful with the affair. Fraternization and romantic relationships weren't explicitly forbidden by Cadmus policy, but they were definitely frowned upon. Conflict of interest and all that.

But so long as the other man was out, it gave him the opportunity he needed to do some necessary cyber reconnaissance. The first thing he did was rule out the other tech's hypothesis that it was Cadmus testing new equipment in the debris field. As far as Tim could find, there were no project taking place on Space Lab that were developing armor plating or shielding for space crafts. Certainly Cadmus had designed these things in the past and science was all about improving and innovating things that already existed, nothing like that was happening here right now.

Just to be thorough, though, Tim did check the station's hangar. Sure enough an EVA had been checked out frequently over the past two weeks that Tim had been away. The one signing for it was always Roquette, and the reason filled in the 'uses' field was simply 'testing'.

So, Space Lab was testing something out there in the debris field. Since it was Roquette that checked out the EVA, clearly their 'testing' had something to do with Kon-El. The moment he realized that, Tim went straight to the Experiment 13 folder and opened all their recent files. Everything that was new. Everything that wasn't there two weeks ago when he first hacked and downloaded the computer's memory banks.

Apparently, not long after Tim left, they started preparing the homo-kryptonian hybrid for combat. Taking him out to the debris field and teaching him to fight, disarm, dismantle, or otherwise neutralize heavy artillery. Space born fighter jets, mobile suits, space tanks. They were making Kal-El's son into a soldier. No... not a soldier. Soldiers might be drilled into obedience, but they at least were still allowed their own names. Experiment 13 hadn't even been given that. If Red Robin hadn't explicitly asked the Ambassador, he wouldn't even know 'Kon-El'.

The question was, what did they want a weapon for?

A human-kryptonian hybrid. All the powers, strength, and god-like abilities of an alien from the Rao System, but 'born' and raised in the Sol System and -presumably- loyal to Earth and humanity. Were they anticipating some sort of extraterrestrial attack? From which planet? Why? Or... was Earth going to be the aggressor? Was whoever was funding Cadmus -or maybe just Experiment 13- planning a large scale attack on one of the planets Earth had contact with? That would explain why they had no qualms about taking Ambassador Kal-El's DNA. If they were planning to incite a large scale war anyway, what was a little stolen genetic mater in the early stages. Just fuel for the flames.

Now, more than ever, Tim knew he had to get Kon-El out of that lab and away from the station all together. This was no longer an investigative mission. It was a rescue.

Red Robin would have to break the homo-kryptonian out of his tank. Lead him out of the lab. Steal a vehicle that could hold two people and was capable of entering Earth's atmosphere. The moment they were planet side again, he would have to take Kon-El directly to... To the Kryptonian Embassy? But he didn't have any papers. Directly to Kal-El? That would be a bit shocking for him, the Ambassador was expecting a baby, not a fully formed person on the cusp of adulthood. To Batman then. The Dark Knight would know what to do. Bruce always knew what to do.

But first he had to get Kon-El out of that lab and away from the station.

One thing at a time.

If they were moving Kon-El semi-regularly that actually helped Tim. There would be moments when he would already be out of his tank, already close to or even at the vehicle pool. Red Robin could swoop in, grab the hybrid boy, steal an EVA and blast them back to Earth. Easy peasy.

What Tim needed to know was what kind of security they had while moving the boy. Nobody was supposed to know about Experiment 13. So the security wouldn't be to keep others away so much as keep Kon-El under control. Red Robin could expected combat training on par with his own and weapons designed to subdue -possibly even kill?- something as powerful as a kryptonian. That would be a problem.

That. And then there was a small question of Kon-El himself.

He seemed to trust Red Robin, at least a little bit. He heard the detective moving around in the air ducts, knew he wasn't really an inspector. But didn't turn him in to Roquette, or alert anyone to his presents at all. So, clearly, the homo-kryptonian didn't think he was suspicious enough to turn in. Or he found Red Robin interesting. Tim had to admit, he did say some pretty interesting things back during their second meeting. Kon-El never even considered the possibility of having parents, not just genetic donors. So long as Red Robin continued to say interesting things, he could be assured the hybrid wouldn't turn him in.

But did he trust him enough to leave with him?

As unfair and wrong as it seemed to Tim, that lab and this space station had been the only 'home' Kon-El had ever known. Would he be willing to leave it just because Red Robin told him he should? He needed to talk to the boy. Gauge his willingness. See what kind of condition he was in after this new combat training they started him on. He would at least need to give the boy some warning that a rescue and escape was on the horizon.

Tim needed to find an opportunity for Red Robin to sneak back into the core and talk to Kon-El.

…

Westfield was in the lab again. Experiment 13 heard him talking to Roquette, and for once, they weren't fighting.

She was showing him the Kid's latest progress. Videos of him dismantling the Lex Corp mobile suits. Charts detailing his pulse and respiratory rate both before and after the fights. How many calories he burned. How many calories he had to eat afterwards to make up for the loss. His relative skill level at the beginning compared to how much he'd improved over the course of the past two weeks.

But as pleases as he sounded, he still wanted Roquette to push him harder. He would order more robots from Lex Corp. Their mysterious benefactor would be happy to pay for them. All they needed to do in return was provide results. Give their secret investor a return on his investments. Although, Experiment 13 was still a little unclear on what they wanted from him. It was clear by this new training that they wanted him to be combat ready. But for what reason? As far as the homo-kryptonian knew of the outside world, battles of the caliber he was training for were few and far between.

Not for the first time, the Kid wished Red Robin would come back. The masked intruder didn't seem to have any qualms about telling him things. What was really going on. Things that were hidden from him. Secrets Westfield and Roquette were keeping from him. Red Robin would tell him.

If only he would come back.

Westfield left.

Roquette pressed his tank's intercom. "Ready to go outside again, Kid?"

Experiment 13 blinked at her. Drifting over to that wall, he held down the intercom button on his own side. "So soon? I feel like I just got back from the last one."

His muscles were still a little sore from being overworked. Not overly so. Not really enough to actually get in the way of him doing things. But certainly enough for him to be aware of strain these activities were having on his body.

"Practice makes perfect, Kiddo." She informed him. "Now get your suit on and lets go."

Well, that didn't really give him much room to argue. Then again, Westfield hadn't given Roquette much room to argue. Reluctantly, Experiment 13 nodded. He wasn't happy with the latest turn his project was taking, but he didn't actually get a say in the matter. He was the research, not a researcher.

He waited until they were alone in the EVA to ask Roquette what he'd been wondering since the direction of the experiment changed.

"What does our sponsor want?" He asked, voice quiet and serious. He was sitting next to Roquette as she piloted the EVA, but he wasn't looking at her. His attention was focussed out the main view port at the approaching debris field. "Why are they making me do this?"

Roquette was silent a moment and the homo-kryptonian thought she wasn't going to answer. Then she sighed. "There's never been anyone like you before, Kid." She reminded him. "They want to know what you can do. They want to know your limits. They want to know what traits from each of your parent races are dominant. They want to know your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, you limits. They want to know everything about you."

"But why?" He pressed.

She opened her mouth to answer. Thought better of whatever it was she was about to say and sighed instead. Roquette patted the artificial hybrid on the shoulder. She was quiet a moment longer. Just when Experiment 13 had figured she wasn't going to answer, she sighed again.

"There are lots of reasons to create human-alien hybrids. Lots of aliens are more physically able to cope with the strains of space travel and exploration, humanity is a little behind the curve. Having natives born on earth able to keep up with other races will keep Earth in the interplanetary economy." She began, almost hesitantly. "As were establish contact with more planets and peoples, mingling our cultures, individuals coming closer, there are a number of bispecies couples whom might want children but are unable to have any. Knowing that we can create homo-sapien/alien hybrids that are viable and heathy could make a lot of good people happy. Or, -inevitably- when you mingle with other cultures there's always the possibility for hostility and violence. People born on Earth, that are loyal to Earth, would have a better chance of defending the planet than any Wayne tech or Lex Corp exosuits that can be torn through like tissue by a single kryptonian."

Experiment 13 blinked at her. He honestly hadn't expected an answer.

Of those three answers, though, he was pretty sure only one of them was the right one -and it wasn't the middle one.

…

Tim kept a close eye on the Experiment 13 training schedule. He waited until Kon-El had come back from one of their excursions. After taking his vitals, making sure he got something to eat and stretched after the physical exertion, the scientists left him alone to rest. As much as Tim didn't really much like the idea of cutting into the poor man's sleep, that was still the best time to reestablish contact. He would need the demi-kryptonian's cooperation in the upcoming escape. For that, Kon-El would need to know it was coming.

Stripping out of his maintenance tech uniform, Tim pulled on his Red Robin suit. The same skintight, capeless version from last time. He slipped the maintenance technician jumpsuit on over it before leaving his room. All anyone would see would be Alvin Drapper walking the corridors with a black hoddie under his uniform. No one would suspect that quiet and mousy little Drapper, whom was still getting used to his space legs was really Red Robin. An operative of Batman Inc. whom worked directly under the Dark Knight himself.

He took a circuitous and round about way to the core, making his way through he rings of the station slowly and without purpose so that no one would know where he was really going. When he got to the inner most ring, he took a passage to the core and found the same ventilation access he used the last time.

It had been weeks since Tim was last crawling around the stations air ducts. He pulled up the schematics on his PDA, the faint blue glow illuminating the tight dark space. Using it to follow the same rout that took him to the vent that exited into Kon-El's tank.

Considering how good kryptonian hearing was, Tim supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when he saw a pair of crystal blue eyes staring at him from between the ventilation grate.

"I was hoping you'd come back." Hissed the hybrid, as softly as he could and still allow the human vigilante to hear.

The grate cut off so much of his face, all Tim could see was his eyes. But even so, Tim could see that he was smiling. Kon-El was genuinely happy to see him. The mysterious and suspicious masked stranger that was crawling around in the walls. Tim had been wondering how the naive and sheltered boy had been handling the new training they were giving him. If he was this happy to see a suspicious stanger that never even gave him his real name, then he really could not be enjoying it all that much. Maybe he would even be hoping for a way out. A way that the vigilante could provide.

Tim pulled himself all the way up to the grate, the lenses of his mask peering through the slats to meet the demi-kryptonian's crystal blue stare. "I wasn't sure what kind of welcome I'd get after being gone so long."

Kon-El was quiet a moment. As if considering his own opinions and what he should say.

After a prolonged pause, the hybrid admitted, "I probably shouldn't trust you. The smart thing to do would be to call Roquette and turn you into security."

That would be the smart thing. But that wasn't what Kon-El was going to do. Somehow, Tim got the vague feeling that trusting people easily -even people he shouldn't- was a trait inherited from Ambassador Kal-El. He was always so good natured, well meaning, friendly, and optimistic. (It was actually really annoying.) Clearly, at least as far as kryptonians were concerned, those were genetic traits and not leaned behaviors.

"But they've changed things since you left." He continued. Speaking freely and openly about things that Cadmus had taken great pains to keep confidential and secret. "They keep taking me out and making me fight giant robots. Its nice getting out of my tank, but I don't like the fights. Its cold outside" -that was an understatement, Tim thought. Only a kryptonian would describe the freezing death of space a just 'cold', "-and the robots know how to hurt me. The fights are hard, and I'm always tired after. I've never been tired before. I've never been hurt before either."

"They have no right to force you to do any of that." Red Robin told him.

Tim couldn't really see it very clearly through the slats of the ventilation grate, but it seemed like Kon-El gave a shrug. "They created me."

The sheer level of resignation and submission in that statement bothered Tim in a way he couldn't readily identify. His hands balled into fists and he found himself having to suppress a growl in his voice. "That doesn't give them any right to force you into violent situations against your consent. You might have been created through artificial means, but you are clearly a fully cognoscente person with your own thoughts and feeling independent from those that are trying to control you. They have no right to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Kon-El paused again. His crystal blue eyes turning inward. Tim couldn't guess what he was contemplating. Then, "I asked Roquette why we were doing it."

He was questioning his creators. Good. That was good. It meant he didn't view them as infallible and all knowing. It meant he didn't follow them blindly trusting that they knew what was best even if he didn't like it. He really was his own person with his own thoughts and feelings. Just as Tim told him he was. "And what did she tell you?"

"She gave a bunch of reasons." He answered. "I don't really know which to believe."

"Well, what did she say?" Red Robin pressed.

"She told me what you told me." Kon-El quickly back tracked. "Well, not exactly what you told me. She said that with all the contact Earth had with other planets, there were a lot of inter-species couples that wanted kids. I'm an experiment to see if its possible and they can have healthy hybrids. That's consistent with what you said. That I have a father out there -not just a genetic donor, but a parent- and he's looking for me."

"Yes." Tim confirmed. "Kal-El sent me to find you. What else did Roquette tell you?"

"She also said they were trying to make an Earthling more physically adept at space travel." He continued. "That we were falling behind in the interplanetary economy."

Admittedly, Timothy Drake-Wayne had been away from his desk at Wayne Enterprises for so long that he didn't actually know if that were true. But it wasn't hard to believe. Zetta teleportation technology could only do so much. Sometimes good had to be shipped the long way, and those freight shuttles had to be manned somehow. Of all the known races in the universe, humans were the worst adapted to space travel. A crop of bioengineered super-humans capable of maintaining healthy physical condition and preforming their duties in space would be a huge asset to the global economy. Tim could see the motivation there. But then, why all the secrecy? Why the need to steal DNA samples and hide the research?

"Anything else?" Red Robin pressed.

This time, when Kon-El hesitated, the pause was longer. This was the reason he hated the least. Tim didn't need to see his whole face to know that. His silence and the way those naive and innocent crystal eyes hardened was all the indication the masked detective needed.

"What are things like on the outside?" The hybrid finally asked at length. "I mean, between Earth and the rest of the universe. What's our relationship like with other planets? Do they like us? Are we friendly?"

Now it was Tim's turn to shrug, enough though he knew Kon-El couldn't see it. Unless these vents weren't leaded and he could see it. But whatever. Tim shrugged. "We get along as well as any group of nations with political and economic interest in each other. Why?"

The demi-kryptonian didn't answer.

"Why?" Red Robin asked again. Then paused. Thought about what he already knew. Took a guess. "Kon-El, are they trying to make a soldier out of you?"

He lowered those intense crystal eyes. "I think so."

A literal 'super-soldier'. That was it. That was the reason for all the secrecy.

Then the hybrid looked up, something else Red Robin said finally registering. He looked at the masked vigilante with confusion. "What did you just call me?"

Finally, Tim had something to smile about. Some good news to share with Experiment 13. "That's your name." He told the boy. "The name your father picked out for you. I met with him after I left. Told him I found you and that you were safe, and he told me your name. Kon of the House of El."

Those crystal eyes looked startled for a moment. Then the demi-kryptonian smiled back. "I like it."

Red Robin nodded, glad. He might look like a man in his late teens almost twenties, but he was really just in innocent child. "I'm going to get you out of here, Kon-El." He promised. "I'm gonna get you to Earth and into the arms of your parents. Not just genetic donors, but people who love you and want you. Don't say anything to Roquette, but be ready. I'll come for you when I have a way out."

Kon-El nodded. He hadn't told anyone about Red Robin sneaking around and whispering to him yet. He would keep the secret of their escape plan either -although Red Robin hadn't actually shared a plan. "I'll wait."

…